Find out about the International Symposium scientific program, created by leading international obstetrics and gynecology professionals to educate and inspire delegates.
Hear more about the program from Co-Chair Dr Denise Pugash
Co-chairs:
Country: Canada
Field: Obstetrics
Specialties: Fetal anomaly T1 & T2; fetal biometry and wellbeing; aneuploidies; fetal anomalies; multiple pregnancy; prenatal screening and diagnosis
Language: English
International Symposium Advisory Group:
Nominations Committee
Prof. Jon Hyett trained in obstetrics and gynecology and sub-specialised in maternal and fetal medicine in the UK. He is currently Joint Head of the Discipline of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Neonataology at the University of Sydney. He is involved nationally with the Nuchal Translucency Accreditation Program of RANZCR / RANZCOG and internationally with the obstetric ultrasound accreditation programs run by the Fetal Medicine Foundation, UK and ISUOG. Jon is also involved in the Scientific Committee, which oversees the production and development of the scientific program for the ISUOG World Congress.
Country: Australia
Field: Obstetrics
Specialties: Fetal anomaly screening T1 & T2; fetal biometry and wellbeing; aneuploidies; fetal anomalies; fetal heart; fetal brain; fetal growth restriction; maternal and fetal Doppler; fetal interventional procedures; multiple pregnancy; preeclampsia; preterm delivery; genetics
Language: English
Dr Simon Meagher is consultant sonologist at the Perinatal department, Mercy Hospital for Women, Melbourne. He also serves as Medical Director of Monash Ultrasound for Women where he oversees a team of 50 sonologists, sonographers, genetic counsellors, phlebotomists and administrative staff in delivering a tertiary level ultrasound service across south east Melbourne. Dr Meagher has dedicated 30 years of his term as Medical Director, teaching and lecturing in obstetric and gynaecological ultrasound both locally and overseas. He has delivered over 800 lectures, across 17 countries, and 43 cities worldwide. In 2015, he was awarded ‘Sonologist of The Year’ by the Australian society of Ultrasound in medicine (ASUM) in recognition of his teaching skills and his commitment to hands on training within the hospital setting at the Mercy Hospital for Women and for his commitment and contributions to ASUM.
His interest in clinical research has focussed on early pregnancy screening and diagnosis he has published over 100 articles in peer review journals, including 15 articles in the last 3 years focusing on first trimester pregnancy screening and diagnosis. Dr Meagher has described five original sonographic fetal markers during the first and second trimesters of pregnancy. He is now focusing his interest on aneuploidy and embryo development from seven to 10 weeks as we approach the dawn of a new era of genetic screening via free fetal DNA analysis.
Dr Meagher has taken on multiple leadership positions - early in his career as the Chair of the Standards of Practice Committee at ASUM, examiner and executive board member for the ASUM Diploma of diagnostic ultrasound and later as council member of ASUM. Thereafter he served as Chairman of the Victoria Obstetric Sonologists group and on several ISUOG Sub-Committees at the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetric and Gynaecological Ultrasound.
Country: Australia
Field: Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Specialties: Prenatal Diagnosis. First and Second Trimester Fetal anomaly screening. Aneuploidy screening and diagnosis. NIPT and prenatal Exome sequencing. Maternal and Fetal Doppler Ultrasound. Invasive Prenatal Procedures. Ultrasound and Infertility. Tubal Patency Testing.
Languages: English
Executive Committee, Nominations Committee, China Sub-Committee, UOG Editorial Board
Professor Liona Poon is an Academic Subspecialist in Maternal Fetal Medicine, devoted in improving maternal and fetal health. She has had a prolific research output throughout her clinical and research posts, including over 130 peer-reviewed publications in high impact international journals. In the last 10 years she has focused her research on establishing a programme for effective early prediction and prevention of preeclampsia, a major cause of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. With her success in developing a first-trimester prediction model for preeclampsia using maternal risk factors, ultrasound, blood pressure and biochemical markers, and on Aspirin prophylaxis against preeclampsia, her goal in the next 10 years is to improve obstetric care worldwide, through clinical research and education.
Notable Publications:
Aspire trial: incidence of preterm preeclampsia in patients fulfulling ACOG and NICE criteria according to risk by the FMF algorithm. Poon LC, Rolnik DL, Tan MY, Delgado JL, Tsokaki T, Akolekar R, Singh M, Andrade W, Efeturk T, Jani JC, Plasencia W, Papaioannou G, Blazquez AR, Carbone IF, Wright D, Nikolaides KH.
Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 2018 Jan 30. doi: 10.1002/uog.19019 [Epub ahead of print]
Aspirin versus Placebo in Pregnancies at High Risk of Preterm Preeclampsia. Rolnik DL, Wright D, Poon LC, O'Gorman N, Syngelaki A, de Paco Matallana C, Akolekar R, Cicero S, Janga D, Singh M, Molina FS, Persico N, Jani JC, Plasencia W, Papaioannou G, Tennebaum Gavish K, Meiri H, Gizurarson S, Maclagan K, Nicolaides K.H.
New England Journal Medicine 2017, 2017 Jun 28. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1704559. [Epub ahead of print]
Country: China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Field: Obstetrics
Specialties: Fetal anomaly screening 1st trimester and 2nd trimester; fetal biometry and wellbeing; fetal anomalies screening; aneuploidy screening; fetal anomalies; fetal growth restriction; maternal and fetal Doppler; multiple pregnancy; preeclampsia; preterm delivery; fetal growth; detection of fetal and neonatal growth abnormalities; ultrasound on the labour ward
Languages: English; Chinese (Mandarin); Chinese (Cantonese)
Honours Committee Member
Prof. Angela Ranzini is a Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at The MetroHealth System in Cleveland, Ohio, USA and full professor of Reproductive Biology at Case Western Reserve University. Her special interests include anomaly identification, prediction of prematurity, Twins, Teaching processes and Quality control. Angela completed her MD at Medical College of Virginia (VCU), her Ob/Gyn residency at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, NY and her Fellowship in Maternal Fetal Medicine at Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA.
Angela is the Director of the Fetal Diagnostic Center at the MetroHealth System and the Program Director for the Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellowship at the MetroHealth/Case Western Reserve University joint fellowship with University Hospitals. She is a Fellow member of AIUM and is a reviewer for Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine. She is currently the Chair of the Education Committee, the Project Lead for the Rwanda Outreach program and serves as the VISUOG Abdomen section editor. She has been involved in many Committees and Task Forces of ISUOG.
Country: USA
Field: Obstetrics; Imaging; Fetal Medicine
Specialties: Fetal anomaly screening; fetal biometry and wellbeing; aneuploidies; fetal anomalies; fetal growth restriction; maternal and fetal Doppler; multiple pregnancy
Languages: English
Associate Professor Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Baylor College of Medicine
Dr Sanz Cortes current academic position is in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, Texas), as an Associate Professor. She is a fetal surgeon at Texas Children's Hospital providing care for patients who receive any fetal intervention from the time of pre-surgical evaluation, surgery and until delivery. Part of her clinical care is also dedicated to the management of the fetal neurosonology clinic at the same center. She is also very invested in multiple research projects related to fetal conditions that require utero therapy from a multidisciplinary approach and with particular emphasis on advanced imaging techniques. She is passionate about research mentorship, education, development of biomedical devices and innovation. One of the main focus of her research has been dedicated to understanding the effects of fetal spina bifida repair and its minimally invasive approach, leading initiatives such as the International Consortium for Fetoscopic Myelomeningocele Repair.
Other current affiliations that she holds are: Member of the Steering Committee of Texas Children's Hospital Fetal Center, Steering Committee of the North American Fetal Therapy Network, Scientific Committee of the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology (ISUOG), part of the Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Prenatal Diagnosis journal editorial boards.
Country: USA
Field: Obstetrics
Specialties: Fetal anomalies; fetal brain; fetal growth restriction; maternal and fetal Doppler; fetal therapy and intervention
Languages: English; Spanish
Local scientific advisers and faculty:
Advanced gynecologic surgeon and sonologist in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Hamilton Health Sciences
Dr. Mathew Leonardi is an advanced gynecologic surgeon and sonologist in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Hamilton Health Sciences and assistant professor at McMaster University. His special interests are imaging technologies including transvaginal ultrasound, endometriosis, advanced gynecologic surgery, innovation in diagnosis, and research. Mathew is completing a PhD in Medicine (University of Sydney, Australia), focusing on the utility of ultrasound in the diagnosis and management of endometriosis. He completed his MD and residency at the University of Toronto and fellowship at the University of Sydney.
Mathew is an early career researcher, co-supervisor of a fellowship in minimally invasive gynecologic surgery, and appointee in the Medical Sciences department at McMaster University. He is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology and an Associate Editor for Reproduction & Fertility. He is involved in with the VISUOG Gynecology endeavour. Mathew is committee member of EndoAct Canada and contributing the latest clinical practice guidelines on endometriosis in Canada. He is leading a research program locally and contributing to international research studies.
Country: Canada
Field: Gynecology; Imaging; Surgery
Specialties: Endometriosis; adenomyosis; intracavitary pathology; ovarian masses; intra-abdominal adhesions; advanced gynecologic surgery; transvaginal ultrasound; transrectal ultrasound
Languages: English
Professor of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada